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Today's top stories
Vice President Harris sat down with CNN last night for her first major interview as the Democratic presidential nominee. She was joined by her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Harris said she’d appoint a Republican to her cabinet if elected and talked about her policy shifts over the years. Republicans have accused her of flip-flopping on issues like fracking and enforcement at the southern border. She’s also been accused of dodging interviews. How did Harris do? Here are six takeaways.
- 🎧 It wasn't "an earth-shattering interview,” NPR’s Asma Khalid tells Up First. Harris largely offered a continuation of President Biden’s policies. She acknowledged that the economy is one of the Democrats' biggest vulnerabilities, but championed what the Biden administration has done on things like lowering Medicare drug prices and creating manufacturing jobs. She discussed in vague terms about strengthening the middle class. Policy proposals are not central to her campaign strategy. Instead she talks about herself as being a new way forward. Khalid says it's interesting that Harris and former President Donald Trump haven’t interacted in person before. This makes the expected Sept. 10 debate perhaps one of the most important moments of this campaign.
Trump countered Harris and Walz's interview with a town hall in Wisconsin, a battleground state. In addition to his normal talking points on immigration and inflation, Trump started the town hall with a question about IVF, a surprise political issue in the post-Roe reproductive rights landscape.
- 🎧 Trump says he supports IVF and wants it to be widely available, Minnesota Public Radio’s Clay Masters says. But abortion remains an issue he is wrestling with. In an interview with NBC News earlier in the day, he indicated he would vote in favor of abortion rights in Florida’s ballot measure. The campaign pushed back quickly, saying Trump believes Florida's six-week abortion ban is too short but hasn't yet said how he would vote. During the town hall, he accused Walz without evidence of supporting abortions into the third trimester of pregnancy. He also attacked the Minnesota governor on a bill he signed that made tampons available in school bathrooms in the state.
Nine people have died and more hospitalized from listeria, a food-borne bacteria, marking the worst listeria outbreak since 2011. The cases stem from contaminated Boar’s Head deli meat. The factory has recalled millions of pounds of products. The first recall was issued in July and linked to a ready-to-eat liverwurst product. Since then, it has expanded to dozens of products, including sliced ham varieties, sausages and loaves, all of which were manufactured at the same Virginia plant as the liverwurst.
- 🎧 NPR’s Yuki Noguchi says one of the reasons cases are still appearing is that the products have long shelf lives and they might still be in people’s refrigerators. Some of the recalled meats have sell-by dates into October. It’s also a massive amount of potentially infected meat: over 70 million pounds. People should look for a specific number — 12612— on the inspection label. If recalled meat is found, you’re advised to clean your refrigerator, kitchen counters and anything that might have come into contact with it.
Life advice
Do you have a fruit fly problem? You are not alone. This is a common issue, especially during the summer, says Laurie Stevison, associate professor of biology at Auburn University. She shares ways to help you get rid of them.
- 🍌 When you bring home fruit, especially the overripe kind, wash it with water to remove any eggs.
- 🍌 Try not to leave out any baked goods with blueberries, bananas or other fruit.
- 🍌 Make sure to check your kitchen sink. Fruit flies could live in the drain.
Listen to learn more about how to eliminate fruit flies from your drain or with a trap.
Weekend picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿Movies: The Crow is a brand new reimagining of the comic book series that inspired the original film. In it, Bill Skarsgård plays a man who gets brutally murdered alongside his soulmate and returns to life as an unstoppable figure of vengeance. Pop Culture Happy Hour hosts discuss how it stacks up against the original.
📺 TV: Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is finally back after two years. The first three episodes are on Amazon Prime. NPR’s Glen Weldon has seen all eight episodes and has a spoiler-free review.
📚 Books: Did you know Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka lived in Prague at the same time with the same circle of friends? Ken Krimstein’s new graphic novel, Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up With the Universe playfully explores the possibilities of what happened as the two 20th-century geniuses have separate career breakthroughs, through an archive of letters, diaries and research.
🎵 Music: In celebration of the D.C. Jazz Festival’s 20th anniversary, we invited bassist Corcoran Holt, artist-in-residence, to curate a playlist that highlights Washington, D.C., natives along with other bandleaders who will perform. Check it out here.
🥗 Food: Content creator Logan Moffitt has been inspiring many on TikTok with near-daily postings of cucumber salad recipe videos. Try some recipes from him and other chefs.
🎲 Games: The tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons turns 50 this year. NPR critic Glen Weldon reflects on why he loved playing the game as a closeted teen and how he stumbled upon the fierce, shoulder-padded illusionist that would become his first character.
❓Quiz: See how I paid attention to the news this week and got a high score on the weekly quiz? Very demure. Very mindful.
3 things to know before you go
- For birds, nest-building is also culture-building. They can learn from others, letting groups within one species develop their own distinctive nest-building traditions, according to a new report in Science.
- An office retreat in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains turned into a worst-case scenario for one of the 15 workers when he got separated from his colleagues. He was left to find his own way down through a mountain’s steep terrain.
- A group of authors and the nation’s largest publishers filed a lawsuit against Florida’s public officials challenging a 2023 state law that restricts books in school libraries. (via WMNF)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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